Uta Bloody Valentine
Uta Bloody Valentine, more commonly known as "The White Rabbit", is a recurring antagonist in Issues #9-11 of the Funcom MMORPG ''The Secret World. ''Perpetually dressed in an oversized bunny mask and a bloodstained schoolgirl costume, she currently operates in Tokyo as a professional assassin, remaining a consistent looming threat to both the players and their allies from her introduction onwards. Despite her comical appearance and baffling behavior, she somehow manages to remain one step ahead of even the most proficient of Secret Worlders; even the Oni mercenaries of the House In Exile have difficulty keeping up with her. Role For most of the game, her true nature can only be guessed at even by the experts among the Big Three factions, given that she does not remove her mask at any point, nor does she ever speak. Several missions and plot arcs revolve around the search for her true identity or her current whereabouts, all of them ending in failure. However, what is certain is that she appears to be in the business of picking off roaming hit-squads from the House In Exile, Orochi operatives gone AWOL, and - most recently, members of the Fear Nothing Foundation. However, it's not until the very end of Issue #11 that it becomes clear that the White Rabbit isn't a lone killer at all, but a coordinated team of three identical assassins all known by the name of Uta Bloody Valentine, all sharing more or less the same personality. Appearance All three Uta Bloody Valentines dress in the same costume: a giant cartoon rabbit-head mask; a Japanese schoolgirl's outfit, complete with red bow, tattered skirt, and a torn blazer usually covered in the blood of recent victims; and a pair of hand-wrappings formed from bandages, also heavily bloodstained. None of the three show any personal modification or variation in this single design, further enforcing the idea that these assassins are virtually the same person. Indeed, the only notable difference between the three appears in their chosen fighting style: one prefers the traditional use of a katana; the other dual-wields her swords; and one makes almost exclusive use of firearms, resorting to a minigun in combat with the player. In her lore entry, the Bees note that the Utas are no stranger to wearing unusual costumes: over the course of their careers, all three of them have made use of specific masks and outfits, ranging from traditional Noh masks to Mickey Mouse masks. Personality Though none of the three give any direct indication of their characters - or character, as the case may be - numerous hints as to their personality are provided over the course of Issues #9 through to #11: during the mission "Fierce Competition", Inbeda's Mask of Kan'ami studies the emotional trails left around her past victims, and finds that the killer herself leaves next to no trace - indicating that the three rarely feel strong emotions. However, after Kan'ami locates the bodies of two lovers who committed suicide before the assassins could reach them, he also locates an additional trail indicating a mixture of envy and amusement, suggesting that the suicide pact did actually stir something in the otherwise heartless assassin. According to Jung, Uta thinks extremely quickly, and finds her thoughts abnormally fast even by the standards of normal brain activity - describing them as "Hippity-hoppity thoughts". While he doesn't mention what she is actually thinking about, Jung evidently finds them unpleasant enough to make his usual verbosity break down in favor of dialogue appropriate to his age (ie: he can only refer to them as "nasty"), something that usually only happens when he is unusually upset or scared. Over the course of Issue #10, Uta occasionally exhibits playful and almost sadistic behavior when dealing with her targets and enemies: after easily killing her way through the ranks of the Morninglight staff, she leaves one survivor alive to panic over what to do next, toying with him; and when the survivor inevitably charges her, she teleports directly in front of him, allowing him to accidentally impale himself on her sword. Then, she goes to the trouble of silently pointing out the addresses of the surviving Morninglight staff to the players, before tapping her wrist - in other words, directly challenging the players to a race for her remaining targets. Later, after dropping a cargo container on players as they progress through the docks, she repeats the wrist tapping gesture once again - a mocking indication that players are running out of time. However, regardless of their habit of toying with their targets, the Utas appear to at least have some degree of honor: during their confrontation at the end of Issue #10, Uta allows the players to conclude their business with Naonomi Tanaka and leave unharmed, exchanging respectful bows as the two of them depart. As the players will be able to get to Naonomi first it is likely Uta did not interupt upon arrival as a form of prize for beating at least one of the challenges set forth in their race. During Issue #12, Uta and her sisters are all waiting as the last of Lilith's forces to stand in the way of their benefactor. All three not only openly confront the players rather than ambush them but each also takes the time to bow. Body language from each of the three as well as the players' indicate there is a mutual respect in skill and duty even when approaching a fight to the death. History If Nesting Dolls Could Kill The woman who eventually became the Uta Bloody Valentine trio was born in a rare occurrence of embryonic cannibalism: she was originally one of a trio, but over the course of their gestation in the womb, one of the triplets essentially absorbed the other two. The process of giving birth killed Uta's mother, and her father abandoned her at an institute when her many mental problems began to manifest: diagnosed as a violent schizophrenic with multiple personalities, doctors kept her under close observation at all times - only to be continuously baffled time and again by her inexplicable ability to escape her restraints. Unknown to all but a few, the cannibalism of her sisters had infused the child with two additional souls: her "multiple personalities" were really the half-assimilated aspects of her siblings' minds struggling to make their presence felt, and her supposed schizophrenic delusions were simply the result of Uta's mind being opened to the Secret World from birth; she could see things nobody else could see, and her prenatal siblicide had infused her with powerful blood magic. With this innate grasp of thaumaturgy, she regularly broke out of the asylum and prowled the streets of the Secret World, hunting down rare magical creatures; though she was invariably recaptured - or simply returned to the asylum of her own accord - the her jailers could never contain her for long. Then one day, she received an unusual visitor: Lilith, the legendary Mother of Monsters. In an unthinkably rare moment of compassion, Lilith recognized that Uta was in pain, the struggle of containing three psyches in one mind slowly tearing her sanity down the middle. So, she spirited her away to Orochi Tower, where Lilith secretly gave Uta's sisters bodies of their own. Having shared a life, the three were identical in mind as well as body: though their assimilation had made them enemies, their division had united them as sisters. Eventually, Lilith was to make use of that bond and their skills, but for the time being, the three of them maintained a low profile. Eventually, however, one of the three Utas got the attention of the Dragon: inducting her into their ranks at the age of fifteen, they trained her in the art of combat and stealth; impressed with her talents in the field of murder, the faction employed her as an assassin and gave her the title of "The Dragon's Tooth" - as well as a traditional Noh mask to hide behind. In the employ of the Dragon, Uta Bloody Valentine was to further the spread of controlled chaos across the world for many years. At the same time, however, another Uta was now in the service of another secret society: having gotten the attention of the Illuminati at the same time her other self had gotten the attention of the Dragon, she too was trained as an assassin, this time learning the brutally efficient methods of the Eye and the Pyramid's infamous Magicians. In the field, she distinguished herself not only through her effectiveness, but also through her inexplicable costume of bloodstained pajamas and a Mickey Mouse mask. In return for her exemplary service, she was given a penthouse overlooking Roppongi Hills and regular access to antidepressants, which she quickly became addicted to. And at the same time her sisters were being courted by the Dragon and the Illuminati, the third Uta was being recruited by the Templars. In recognition for a skill in bloodshed that went beyond the domains of the acceptable, they made her an apprentice of the infamous Pit and Pendulum, the two brutish sin-eaters assigned to maintaining discipline among the ranks. Armed with all the skills she'd been taught, Uta protected Templar interests in Hong Kong for many years, all while dressed in a sailor suit and a usagi mask. Then, to the utter bewilderment of all three factions, Uta vanished without warning. Even the Dragon was at a loss to explain what happened. However, it can be safely assumed that once all three of them had been properly trained in the arts of assassination and warfare, Lilith had called them back to her side to serve as personal assassins and bodyguards. Much of their time was spent in Tokyo, carrying out hits - either for Lilith or for other clients: having donned her infamous rabbit head mask, it wasn't long before her rivals among the House In Exile had dubbed her "The Rabbit Killer" and "The White Rabbit." With nobody aware that Uta could literally be in three places at once, much of Tokyo's underworld was at a loss to explain how the assassin somehow managed to outpace even the Oni - who were capable of teleportation - and her reputation only grew as a result. My Bloody Valentine Meanwhile, one of Lilith's many schemes to control the legendary Dreamers spiraled out of control: having created the cult of the Morninglight to help her in her attempts to enslave these primordial entities, she was caught entirely off-guard when the Morninglight ended up being converted to the worship of the Dreamers - and promptly launched a suicide attack on her, unleashing the Filth on Tokyo in the process. In the borderline-apocalyptic aftermath of the bombing, an infuriated Lilith assigned the White Rabbits to the task of eliminating anyone who might oppose her - or who might pose a threat to her interests: along with Orochi operatives who might know too much about her activities in the Prometheus Initiative, the Fear Nothing Foundation - Morninglight's secret adjunct - was also singled out for Lilith's vengeance. Admittedly, this proved to be somewhat redundant, given that most of the Foundation had committed mass-suicide to celebrate the bombing, and the survivors were either beneath Uta's notice or borderline unkillable. Nonetheless, there were still cultists from the main body of the Morninglight to be found within city limits, and Lilith gladly assigned Uta the task of killing them as well. It is at this point that the players are sent into Tokyo to investigate the situation: soon after, they make contact with the House In Exile and - in exchange for Inbeda's aid - agree to search a nearby carpark for a missing hit squad. The squad in question has been massacred, and the target they were sent to eliminate is found dying, impaled through the back by a sword not commonly used by Oni. After hastily evading the Gaki stirred up by the massacre, players inspect the carpark's security cameras and get their first glimpse of the White Rabbit - one of them at least - slaughtering her way through the ranks of the hit squad. More alarming, it's implied that she may have been leaving the area around the same time the players descended into the carpark - and may very well have walked right past them without being noticed. Soon after, the White Rabbit makes another appearance when players track down one of the only surviving FNF members, Yuichi Nakahara: trained to serve as a suicide bomber, Yuichi had balked at the last minute and fled the cult - forcing his handlers to make do with John Copley; however, he knows that someone is quite clearly killing their way through Morninglight personnel, and the Rabbit Killer won't spare him just because he refused the mission to assassinate Lilith. Following leads from both Yuichi and Inbeda's mask, players creep through a hole in the quarantine wall and into the harbor district; after a run-in with Jake Hama, an incompetent private detective tasked with finding Naonomi Tanaka and convinced that the White Rabbit somehow knows her location, they eventually descend into the depths of the Morninglight's secret clubhouse. By now, most of the Morninglight cultists are already dead or Filth-infected; however, a few uninfected cultists have assembled in the administration offices - and by the time the player arrives, Uta Bloody Valentine is already among them. Through they arm themselves with katanas of their own, the White Rabbit easily slaughters her way through their ranks, leaving no survivors. Then, by way of mime, she challenges the players to a race for the remaining Morninglight staff: in the ensuing chase, Uta not only eliminates three out of the four surviving targets, but also delays the players further by dropping a cargo container on them. However, the players are somehow able to reach the remaining Morninglight safe-house in time: there, Naonomi Tanaka provides them with deliberately distorted information that puts the blame for the Morninglight's atrocities squarely on Lilith and the Orochi Group, all while gloating over the success of the cult. Now resigned to the fact that she's been targeted for assassination and likely to die soon, the drunken cultist shoos players away - just in time for Uta to drop from the ceiling. Disgusted by Naonomi's lack of remorse, players make no attempt to save her from the assassin - even exchanging respectful bows with Uta moments before she guns Naonomi down. With her mission apparently complete, the three Utas retreat to the tower to guard Lilith. There, in the mission, the three assassins form the last line of defense, engaging players in a vicious boss fight - during which all three of them are killed. Gallery Uta - The chase is on.jpg|Late, late for a very important date Uta - Clearing the room.jpg|Hip, hop, death Uta bows.jpg|Uta bows to the player Uta gunwoman.jpg|The gun-wielding triplet Uta swordswoman.jpg|The blade wielding-triplet Uta sisters.jpg|The sister join forces Trivia * Uta Bloody Valentine is one of many references to ''Alice In Wonderland ''made over the course of Issue #9, naturally being a stand in for the White Rabbit. * Ronelle Washington and the Magicians of the Illuminati have been tracking Uta from the shadows. The Magicians are a group of Secret World trouble-shooters who can kill even otherwise immortal beings. No concrete information on the reason why The Magicians were assigned to track Uta is given but considering one of the Uta's was once a high-ranking enforcer for the Illuminati it is likely Uta used to be a member of the Magicians before she left to serve Lilith, leaving The Magicians with a score to settle. 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